Carl Glendon

The Difference between Divorce and Legal Separation That You Must Know

Marriage is supposed to be a lifelong relationship, but nothing is eternal. Love might remain, but there comes a point of time when couples decide to part ways for a peaceful life, and this is when the dreadful term "divorce" or "marital separation" comes into existence. The decision of whether to opt for a divorce or legal separation is a big choice, and this has a range of consequences as well. Divorce is a permanent end to the marital relationship, where there is a formal request to the Court to make a final determination. On the contrary, in marital separation, thespouses formally request the Court to make a final determination on all aspects of the marriage, without ending the marriage itself. Both have different benefits and drawbacks, and a thin line of difference between divorce and legal separation makes a lot of couples confused. Here are some pointers.

Difference between legal separation and divorce

• The main and most important difference of divorce and marital separation is that with a separation, the marriage is still legally intact. Here the spouses are technically still married, unlike in divorce, where legally they are no more married.
• In divorce, the marital union is legally cancelled. In legal separation, on the other hand though for all intents and purposes the marriage is over, it's not in a technical sense. The spouses here are married and cannot remarry.
• A divorce can't be cancelled and turned to a simple marital separation. But in marital separation, the legal contract lays out all the terms of the separation, and can be converted to a divorce decree and used as is.
• A legal separation has more pros than divorce, giving the partners a chance in future to reconcile. The major pros for legal separation are financial: from healthcare and insurance benefits, to the social security and pension benefits, tax benefits and much more. These benefits are not possible to be received from divorce.

To make sure that the separation is carried out smoothly, both the parties must lay down some terms and conditions, and this is done by a filling up the blank separation agreement form. This agreement acts as the legally binding contract that lays the rules for both the partners to carry out their duties as separated individuals towards their children, assets and debts. Please visit this site to draft a sample free separation agreement template.

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Carl writes often about legal drafting, rental lease agreement, marital separation agreement and help the people in such needs. You can find his thoughts at online custom legal forms blog. To learn more about drafting a separation in South Carolina online?, visit this website.